One pertinent security issue that public cloud computing platforms face today is that the active cloud virtual machine instances are visible and accessible via the public internet, which potentially allows hackers to carry out several types of attacks. Examples of such attacks include Denial of Service (DoS) and intrusion over long durations, which increase the probability of successful penetration. Most systems running on public cloud instances today are not security-hardened to withstand such persistent and long attacks. Attacks may potentially be harmful to the enterprise that uses such instances to deliver cloud services, for the users that use such services, and for the cloud provider that provides the cloud infrastructure.